Mayor Emanuel started things off this way: “First of all, I’m glad to be here with the Wal-Mart family.” But he quickly corrected himself and said, “Walgreens.”

“I’ll tell you exactly how that happened,” Emanuel said following a laugh among everyone present.

Mayor Emanuel explained his brain cramp, saying he had just told the Walgreens chief executive officer Gregory Wasson that Wal-Mart is changing its business model because of the success Walgreens is having.

Crain’s Chicago Business reported Wal-Mart had already signed a lease for a 14,086-square foot space in the old Recycled Paper Greetings building at 3636 N. Broadway. The building was sold in May, and building permits have already been filed, according to documents from the Belmont Harbor Neighbors Association.

The other planned Wal-Mart would be a 30,000 square-foot Neighborhood Market store in the Broadway at Surf retail complex a mile to the south. That store has met with protests from neighbors who believe it will drive small businesses to extinction and rob the neighborhood of its character.

Coincidentally, there is a Walgreens next door to the 3636 N. Broadway building where Wal-Mart plans to locate.